Chapter 6

I knew there was something major afoot Saturday morning when Sandy was up and fully functional before I got back to the house after picking up Monica and the girls. She even had breakfast ready for all of us, which surprised me because I wasn't even aware she knew how to cook breakfast if it didn't come from a toaster or microwave.

At 9:00, Sandy told us she'd be back in a while, so we made ourselves comfortable. We set the girls up in the living room with the computer gaming console, and then pushed aside all the furniture in the family room. We hit the music and lost ourselves in our own fantasy world. We managed to keep the dance no worse than a PG-13 rated version by concentrating on the mechanics of our dancing. As the music faded away after our third run-through, we were surprised by applause. Turning to the kitchen door where the applause originated, I was surprised to see all four of my kids and their 'significant others' watching us.

"Grampa ... dance," my oldest granddaughter, Carol, cried excitedly as she flew across the open floor between us. She had discovered dancing when she was two at Sue and Tom's wedding. My son, George, doesn't have a terpsichorean bone in his body. When Carol had wanted to dance with him at the wedding, he directed her my way. I'd spent the next hour with her balanced on my toes 'dancing.' Since that day, every time she came over, Carol had wanted to dance. Gina had teased me that in a couple of years, I could teach Carol the Tango and would have a new dance partner.

My arm around her waist, I gathered Monica next to me and made the introductions, ending with, "My conniving daughter, Sandy, who you already know." That got snickers from everyone, even the still-blushing Monica. Monica's daughters had wandered in to see what all the commotion was and were introduced to everyone. They and the grandkids hit it off instantly, heading back to the living room to play with the computer games. The adults, led by Sandy, decided that since the weather was decent outside, today would be a good day for me to take them all to SeaWorld.

About the only thing I managed to get any say in all day was that Monica, I, and her kids went together in my car. I wanted a chance to talk to her on the way to the park to explain what I thought was going on. Somehow, though, Carol insisted on riding with Grandpa so we had three kids with us. The rest of the family managed to fit into two other cars, and we left for the park, Sandy leading the way. On the way over, I told Monica what she'd already surmised--she was being 'checked out' by the kids. I told her that since Sandy was the one who initially got us together, and since she was also the one who organized this weekend, I was reasonably certain that she had already put in a good word for us, inviting the rest of the kids down to verify her feelings. I could tell Monica was nervous, and in spite of my suspicions, I had to admit that I was too.

I watched the game progress throughout the day. Sandy, Rex and one of my other kids would keep all of the little ones busy while the other two of my kids went with Monica and me, chatting amicably as we explored the park. Periodically throughout the day, they would switch off so everyone had a chance to spend time with us. The little kids picked their favorite burger joint for dinner, and again, grandpa treated. That night, Sandy got Monica to do something I hadn't been able to do--spend the night at my house--although not the way I'd envisioned it. Monica and her girls commandeered my bed, each of my kids and their 'significant other' utilized their old bedrooms, and grandpa camped out in the living room with the grandkids.

Squealing, writhing bodies woke me the next morning. Seems grandpa was being 'dog-piled' in an effort to wake him up for breakfast. Cindy and Renee had joined in the fun, too, squealing happily and giggling as loud as everyone else, especially when grandpa cheated and started tickling his attackers.

After finally extricating myself, I was reprieved long enough to use the bathroom, but was informed that breakfast was being served and that, if I didn't hurry, there might not be any left. It was an empty threat--they waited for me. For the second morning in a row, I was surprised to find Sandy cooking breakfast. The talk around the table was light; the adults focused on plans for today, the kids excitedly remembering their adventures from yesterday.

As the meal wound down, George stood, and suddenly everyone was quiet. "Monica, dad, I'm sure you both know why we all showed up at once. Sandy told us you two were getting serious, so we decided to come meet Monica." Turning to face just Monica, George continued. "Monica, I just want to let you know we all approve. It may be a little unusual having a step-mother the same age as I am, but none of us mind."

Monica's eyes were pretty wet by now, but she managed a squeaky, "Thank you."

"Now, I believe we have one more order of business," George announced, and I saw nods of acknowledgement from the other three kids. "Sandy told us how good you two are at dancing, and from what I saw yesterday morning, I think she's right. Last night I talked to mom." Of all the kids, George was the one who had the closest relationship with Melody since she re-surfaced. He was still very guarded with her, but was giving her a chance to prove herself.

"I asked her about letting you use the name M 'n M. She said it wasn't her choice. The divorce papers left everything she didn't take with her to you, which would include the right to use M 'n M if you want. She also said that if it were her right to choose, she would still agree to let you use the name. She's happy that you finally found someone special. She agrees with us that it's been too long."

As George sat, I didn't know what to say, not that I could have said anything at that particular moment. After forcing myself to take a few slow, deep breaths, I finally announced, "If you will excuse me for a minute, I need to get something I want to share with everyone this morning."

I went to my room and retrieved the small envelope, emptying it.

Back in the kitchen I announced, "While this is something I'd planned on doing, I hadn't planned on doing it today or quite in this manner. However, I think that the timing and the company is perfect. I reached into my pocket and retrieved the contents of the smaller envelope. Turning to Monica, who was watching me intently, I knelt and asked, "Monica Greene, would you marry me?" In my hand, I held the engagement ring I'd bought only a few days before.

"Yes," she finally whispered when she was able to speak, vigorously nodding her head. More applause accompanied our kiss.

The kids decided that we should have our wedding in two weeks, the same time as Gina and Jack. I protested that Gina and Jack should have their own day, and that Monica should choose our day. I was outvoted--again. Gina and Jack assured us they didn't mind sharing, and Monica said she had no preference of day--as long as it was soon. While the kids were cleaning up after breakfast, I managed to steer Monica away from the hubbub so we could talk privately. I wanted to make sure she hadn't felt pressured to accept.

The gleam in her eyes and then her kiss left no doubt that everything was fine. Once I was sure the wedding was on, I broached what I considered a potential problem issue. Holding her hands in mine, I looked her in the eye and plunged. "Monica, I don't know how you will feel about my next offer. I hope you will take it as a gesture of my love for you and your daughters, the way it's meant. It's only an offer, one you and everyone involved need to be comfortable with if you agree. If you don't, I'll understand and won't be upset."

The look she was giving me was a "duh ... just ask silly."

Taking a deep breath I asked, "If you and your daughters want, I'd like to adopt them." There. I'd said it, but the tears in her eyes didn't tell me anything ... good or bad.

"You'd be willing to do that?" she asked, incredulously.

"Yes," I said quietly. "I'm not trying to take the place of their father, but I'd like to be their dad as well as your husband. She buried her face in my chest and cried. After she composed herself, we talked further about it. I suggested that she should let the girls make the final decision, but that it would be polite to let Tony's parents in on the decision, too.

She agreed, and called to see if they'd be home, telling them we'd be there in a little while to see them. We told my kids we'd be back as we had arrangements to make. I drove Monica and her two girls across town to the home of Tony's parents. Monica showed them the ring, and they'd figured it was something like that that brought us over today.

After the hugging and congratulations, Monica told them she needed to talk to them about something else. I took a hint, and took the girls outside to play while Monica and her in-laws made their peace. I was surprised when five minutes later, a grinning Monica appeared in the front door and beckoned us back inside. With the girls seated in front of Mrs. Greene, I figured she wanted to talk to them about the man their father was.

Instead, she was the one who explained my offer and what it meant, and asked the girls if they wanted me to adopt them. The squeal from the girls made their decision easy to see, and it was with teary eyes that Mrs. Greene agreed with it, too. I promised them that we would still consider them grandparents and would still bring the girls over frequently. I also told them that they were welcome at our place anytime they wanted, explaining that I wasn't trying to replace their son, only supplement what he'd already started.

We also invited them to the wedding, assuring them they were still considered family. We also made a surprise visit to Monica's parents on the way home, letting them in on all the new developments in their daughter's life, and inviting them to the wedding.

On the way back to the house, I offered that Monica and the girls could move into my house--in their own rooms--until the wedding. She eyed me suspiciously as she thought about it. "And after the girls go to sleep each night?" she asked warily.

"That's your decision, but I promise you'll wake up in your own room every morning until the honeymoon," I told her solemnly. We made the announcement about the adoption when we got back to the house, and the kids were excited about it. George did manage a teasing complaint, "Just what I need, two more sisters."

That afternoon, I managed to steal Monica back from my kids for a while. I guided her into my office, one of the guest bedrooms I'd remodeled for home use. I showed her what our finances would be like. Once she finally realized what I was showing her, she was practically speechless. With my revised tax withholding, I'd be bringing home about $3,000 to $4,000 a month more than what I estimated our expenses would be. When she pointed out that I'd forgotten to include the house payment and car payment in my list of monthly expenses I smiled and explained that the house and car were completely paid for, explaining the decision many years earlier to double up the house payments, and that I'd paid cash for my car.

Shyly she asked if it would be possible to get her car fixed soon after we were married as it was in need of major repairs. I knew right then that the money wasn't going to change her any. I hugged her and suggested that, instead, we use her car as a trade-in and get her a new one this coming week. "But, what if I chicken out and decide not to go through with it?" she asked nervously.

"Then I guess you'll have a new car to remember me by," I told her, smiling.

Looking up at me, she asked hesitantly, "Could I give my old car to someone else, instead?"

"Why would you want to give it to someone if it's in such bad shape?" I

asked.

She explained that her best friend, Allison, had a car that had just died a couple of days ago, and that she had to catch rides with people whenever she went somewhere. While Monica's car was in sad shape, at least it was still running. As I listened, I began to get a glimpse of just how big Monica's heart really was.

I gently stroked her face as I gazed into her loving eyes and told her "You have a heart of gold. How about this--we take your car to my mechanic tomorrow and get him to fix everything. Today, we'll rent a car for you to use, changing it every day for the next few days until you find the car you want. When your car is fixed, you can give it to Allison without her knowing how much we spent on it. If she asks about the problems, just tell her they were easier to repair than you thought--which is technically the truth."

"You're devious," she teased.

"You're sexy," I teased back, pulling her into a deep, toe-curling kiss.

Unfortunately, the barely-open door opened the rest of the way right then. "Get a room you two," Sandy teased, quickly adding, "Guess I lost the bet."

"What bet's that?" I asked.

"I bet Gina you two would be in your bedroom," she laughed. "Maybe I should have waited a few more minutes before looking for you," she teased as she turned to leave, closing the door behind her as she left.

Monica and I returned to what we'd been doing before we were interrupted. When we finally broke the kiss, she asked, double-checking with me, "You really don't mind spending that much to fix my car just to give it away?"

"Ah, my angel of mercy, I have a feeling that the money we spend to fix your car is just the beginning of what we will spend to help out your friends. If you're still unsure, just remember the first time we met and I gave Michelle the money to buy the things you were going to have to put back.

"Besides, when the kids were younger, I always insisted that they pass on the clothes they outgrew to someone who could use them. I'd do more to help people, but I just don't meet many people that I feel I know well enough to step in and help. I'm guessing you know several, and I have no problem helping them. I'll let you decide the best way to help them, as you probably know what help they will be willing to accept. You can buy clothes for them, new or used ones depending on what they'll accept, buy food, take them out to lunch, or whatever."

Monica just watched my face for a while after I finished, and then said quietly, "The more I find out about you, the more I love you. Your heart's made of gold, too."

A couple of days later we stopped by my attorney's office and started the adoption paperwork, being assured that there should be no problems, especially with the notarized consent from the paternal grandparents. The next two weeks were a blur of activity. Sandy and Rex went back to school in L.A. George, Sue and their respective families had to return home Sunday night. In the meantime, Monica had to meet my parents, who managed to fawn all over her. Monica split her 'free' time finding a wedding dress, asking her friends to be bridesmaids, getting their dresses for them, getting invitations and announcements printed and mailed, and all the billions of other details that go into a wedding.

She also dropped by the welfare office and told them to close her case as she was getting married. Somewhere in there, she also managed to find a car she liked, and we bought it Friday evening after I got off work. Saturday morning she delivered her repaired car to her best friend and matron of honor, Allison. When they were done talking, Monica called me for a ride home.

Aside from Monica's family and several close friends of hers and mine, the guests for the dual wedding were the same as they would have been for just the one wedding. The ceremony went perfectly, the reception just as planned. Afterwards, Jack and Gina left on their honeymoon, and Monica, I, and her girls left on ours. When we got back from Disney World, we spent a couple of weeks establishing a routine.

Our first day back I let Monica know that the house was hers to furnish and decorate however she wanted since it was her home now, too. The first change we made was to have shelves built on one of the walls in the living room to display the dance trophies she and Tony had earned. One wall had a big picture window and wasn't suitable for a trophy case, one held Melody and my trophies, and I teased Monica that the remaining wall, the big one, would be our trophies. Her comment back was "I'm not sure the wall is big enough, but it'll be a good start." The look in her eyes told me she was serious.

We re-joined the dance group, dancing with them twice a week. In between, we turned the family room into our own dance floor. It was pretty easy to do since Melody and I had used it for the same thing, even going so far as to have a wood floor installed for our practices.

Our first month together was a joy. Every day was great and getting better. I came home the second Friday of March to find Sandy's car out front. Both women greeted me enthusiastically, as did the two girls. When I asked, Sandy said her surprise visit was, "Because she wanted to talk with Monica," but neither would give me any hints what the discussion was about.

Naturally, my mind went into overdrive coming up with scenarios that would necessitate such a conversation. The only two that made any sense were an impending announcement of engagement or pregnancy from Sandy. An engagement announcement wouldn't have been too big a surprise since Sandy and Rex had been very close since their first date. A pregnancy would have been a bit of a surprise, but considering how active she'd been for so many years, it also wouldn't have been a total shock.

The older females left for a 'girl's night out, ' leaving me to feed and amuse the little ones. We ate dinner (macaroni and cheese with cut up hot dogs--by request), the girls beat me soundly at a game of 'go-fish, ' and then they decided they wanted to dance. So we danced, one girl perched on each of my feet. We danced around the family room to the sounds of classic music and the classic sounds of children laughing and giggling--at least until my dance partners deserted me, running across the room squealing "Mommy!"

I turned to see Monica and Sandy walking into the room grinning like the proverbial cats that ate the canary, followed by a third, tentative smile. "Michelle?" I asked, not that I needed confirmation that it was indeed her. I was just wondering why she was here too. Monica gave each of her girls a hug and kisses, then wrapped herself around me and grinned up at me. I couldn't tell if it was a possessive hug, making sure it was clear I was taken and off-limits, or if it was a show of support for me.

I looked down at Monica and raised my eyebrows, quietly asking "Well?"

Grinning, she said, "Sandy wants to ask you something," then turned and grinned at Sandy.

Sandy's response was an audible, exasperated exhale. "I thought you were going to ask him," she whined, sounding so much like she and Gina used to do when they were younger.

"Oh, no," Monica replied. "I said it was okay with me, but you still have to ask," she teased back, obviously enjoying both Sandy's discomfort and leaving me in suspense.

"Fine," Sandy conceded in a voice I was surprised didn't include a pouting, foot stomp. "Dad, I'd like to ask you for a really big favor," she started, emphasizing 'really'.

"Michelle will be spending much of the summer in San Diego since the Olympic Training facility is here and she's invited to work with them all summer. She could stay there in the dorms, but it's much more expensive. She could save a lot of money if she stayed here with us." Gratefully she didn't go into the details of why it might be a problem for Michelle to stay, and I almost laughed at the hands-on-hips confrontational pose she had taken.

"Why don't you two make yourselves comfortable and entertain the little ones," I suggested as I gave Monica a gentle one-arm hug, "while I talk with my wife privately for a few minutes." I was amazed at how fast four people can disappear. Within seconds, they were gone, leaving Monica and I standing alone in the family room.

"So, how do you really feel?" I asked as I led her over to the couch.

I pulled her down into my lap and she grinned and said teasingly "I thought the look on your face was priceless." I allowed her a moment of fun at my expense, but really wanted to talk seriously about Michelle. Monica could evidently sense my mood, so she quickly shifted to serious.

"Marc, the biggest stress will be on you and Michelle, having to see each other almost every day. I trust you completely or I wouldn't have married you. After all, she was the one who helped me decide to go out with you. I also know that both of you are going to wonder 'what if?' at some point while she's here. I have a rather simple plan to deal with that eventuality. I plan on choosing where, when, and how the issue is dealt with and having said that, have no problem with Michelle living here with us."

Not quite able to believe what I was hearing, I asked once more for her assent. "You're sure?" I was pretty sure she was serious when I found myself on my back on the couch with Monica on top of me, glued to my face. She finally let me up, teasing me all the way to the living room about greeting Michelle with an erection.

I managed to hide behind her as we entered the living room, this time asking Sandy to take the girls to the kitchen for some ice cream. I enjoyed her look of uncertainty as she left us thinking to myself, "Now she knows what it feels like."

Monica sat on the couch next to Michelle, taking both of Michelle's hands in her own. I sat on Monica's other side, preferring not to get between them at this point. "Michelle, you are welcome in our home any time you want, for any reason, and for as long as you want," she said, looking calmly at Michelle.

"Obviously, since you both told me yourselves, I know you two have a history, and I know you both still have strong feelings for each other. I know that you care enough about Marc that you wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the happiness he's found. I also trust him not to do anything or I would never have married him. I know that both of you will be rather uncomfortable around each other for a while, trying to pretend that nothing ever happened. You will both, at some time, wonder 'what if?' Like I told Marc, I have a simple, painless, plan to deal with that eventuality, and will do so at a time and place of my choosing. So, having said all that, welcome to our home, Michelle."

Monica stood as she said that, pulling Michelle up with her. I stood, too since it seemed the right thing to do, sliding my arm around Monica's waist. Monica reciprocated, looking up at me with that dangerous look in her eye. With a simple half step and twist, a dance move we'd done together so many times that my response was automatic--just like she expected--I suddenly found myself dangerously close to and face to face with Michelle. We both looked at Monica to find out just what was going on.

"Look, you two. There's no other way to explain this, so listen carefully 'cuz I'm only going to say it once. I don't expect ... no, I don't want you two to live a lie--to pretend that you don't feel something for each other. Within reason, I expect you two to feel free to hug and kiss each other, any time, any place, here or in public, even in front of me. I will make sure that Sandy and the girls know it's okay. All I ask is that you don't try to hide it, and don't lie about it to me or anyone else. In addition, I expect the nature of the hugs and kisses to be such that they don't lead to ... anything more. Just remember, there will frequently be small children watching you."

I heard the words, but couldn't begin to believe what I was hearing. I was too busy staring, open-mouthed at Monica to see Michelle's response, but I imagine it was similar to mine.

"Can I talk to you for a minute ... privately, again?" I asked, not really sure what I should ask at this point. Monica looked at me for a second, then said "I trust Michelle, I'm sure you trust Michelle, and I'm sure that she and I both know you wouldn't say anything meant to hurt either of us, so whatever you have to ask or say, do it here."